The Candy Maker
by The-Noise-Maker
Summary: Post-War. Sideswipe decides it's time Sunstreaker got out more often, even if it is for something considered trivial.


"Aw c'mon, Sunny! The place is totally new and we might even get something special for being the first customers!"

Sunstreaker sighed gruffly, rubbing his temple. First off, Sideswipe really needed to stop it with that nickname, and secondly, he just highly doubted the words that spun out of his mouth.

"I don't think so."

Sideswipe pouted, his optics glowing in confusion. "You don't think we can go, or we won't get something special?"

His yellow twin narrowed his optics at him, before retracting his gaze. Oh no, he was doing it. That pout. That fragging pout. Sideswipe made his optics glow bright, curving his pout dramatically, his bottom lip quivered in a practiced believability.

"Pweeease, Sunny?"

Ugh, taking a cue from those humans.

_Don't look don't look don't look_, Sunstreaker kept chanting. He felt a digit tap his shoulder, and before he realized he made the mistake of looking, Sunstreaker was assaulted by Sideswipe's pleading pout.

Sunstreaker groaned loudly, rubbing his faceplates. Dammit, he looked. "Fine," he muttered. Sideswipe hollered a whoop, throwing his arms in the air.

"Alright, let's go!"

"Wait… I just agreed to this—I don't even know what kind of place we're going to… what did I agree to?"

Sideswipe waved a hand nonchalantly, "Aw, doncha worry about it."

Sunstreaker crossed his arms as he followed his twin out the door of their apartment, "You saying that just made me more worried."

The other rolled his optics, producing a sound that only his twin would know to mean he had just intended to disregard the statement. "So there's no way I'm going to get you to tell me?"

"Nope!"

"Nope."

Sunstreaker gazed around the city street as he uncertainly followed his brother. The city sure looked better than its previous state. During the war, Sunstreaker remembered it to be greyed and barren, smoke pluming over the crumbled buildings that seemed to break only with the force of the wind. He remembered how frantic he was, thinking for the longest he had lost his twin.

But that was in the past, and though Sunstreaker tended to hold grudges, he found he had no obligation anymore to do so. The city was living again, bright and shining, and the sky was in its most natural blue color for this time of the day.

The yellow Lambo looked up to witness said color, but his attention was stolen away by Sideswipe when he yelled at him.

"Hey, you know I can tell when you're trying to ignore me. Branched spark, remember?"

Sunstreaker's lips quirked up, and patted his perceptually little brother's helm. "Of course. I can never forget that I'm stuck to you. Forever and forever."

Sideswipe swatted at the hand, but smiled nonetheless. "And you make it sound like a bad thing. Anyway, the place it right around the corner. Now close your optics."

Sunstreaker blinked at him, but Sideswipe proceeded to cover his optics with his own hands. "I said close them, not blink, you slaghead."

Sunstreaker huffed profoundly, now taking his own turn to swat the hands away. "Alright, alright! Jeez, you're bossy."

"Only because this needs to be a _surprise_." The other beamed. "Trust me, you're going to absolutely _love _this."

"And by me, you mean you."

"No! You, you!"

Sunstreaker stared at Sideswipe. Sideswipe stared at Sunstreaker. And then after a long moment of what was occupied by bond-narrowed curses Sunstreaker laughed.

Sideswipe blinked. Nope, definitely not the cynical, or empty laugh that that his twin usually produced, but an_ actual_ laugh.

"You're a lot easier to tick off nowadays, Sides," said the yellow Lambo. He was met with an annoyed look that could have well matched Ratchet's on a bad day. Sunstreaker patted the black helm again before walking ahead, "Alright, I'm sorry. Now. Where are we going?"

Sideswipe flailed his arms as he ran to be in front of his twin once more, "Optics. Closed!" And only when Sunstreaker finally complied did Sideswipe take one of his arms to steer him along. They took a right and kept walking down this new street until they suddenly halted.

"Okay," Sideswipe said slowly, "You can look."

Sunstreaker immediately opened his optics, and ended up staring at… What? A confectionary shop, it seemed.

"Surprise!" Sideswipe exclaimed, flailing his arms in the air. Sunstreaker blinked at the window, switched to staring at his twin, then back to the window. "Candy? You want candy?"

"No,_ yooou_ want candy."

"Sideswipe, I never said I wanted any—"

"You want candy!" Sideswipe waggled his fingers, performing his optical ridges in the same manner. "I felt it in our beautiful brother bond we share. You want candy. Now I want candy. But we're here 'cause of you."

A deadpanned expression was what the red mech got in return, but it was blatantly ignored and Sideswipe grabbed his twin's arm and tugged him into the shop.

Okay, so, Sunstreaker probably should have seen this coming. Because, really, this was Sideswipe, and Sideswipe was impulsive. On anything. And, oh look at that, already pawing at the shelves.

"So where's the owner here, I totally want those green looking ones." The ex-front liner babbled on, pointing at the transparent box filled more than half way with lime green, circular bits of what Sunstreaker assumed was some type of hard candy—or something. Not like he knew anyway. With the war, such things were considered exceedingly trivial and the recipes were thought lost and forgotten in the chaos. But here was the solid proof that everyone had thought wrong.

Sideswipe waved Sunstreaker over so he could see as well. The yellow mech, arms crossed habitually in bored moments, such as now, peered at the containers. He saw with a more careful notice that not all of them were the same shape. Some were spherical yes, but others were cubed, like mini energon cubes, and then some were shapes like sticks or tiny bars. And he couldn't ignore the _color_ displayed on the shelves. Not one container carried any color copied from another.

Creative, whoever made them.

"Oh, customers."

Both twins swiveled their helms to see the owner of the shop. Then they immediately looked back at each other in surprise, as if they were hoping that the other had some explanation to this. They looked back.

It was Thundercracker.

The blue seeker looked at them, the datapad and small tray of goodies occupying his hands, "Can I help you?"

Sideswipe was the first to speak, as always, but his voice didn't hold the natural solidity this time around. "Um, yeah… can—can I try out those green ones up there?"

Thundercracker, with a calm air, looked to where Sideswipe had indicated, and gave a small sweep of his hand and a nod as if to say 'go right ahead'. Sideswipe smiled in glee and opened the top of the box to get one out. But while he was occupying himself with that, Sunstreaker continued to look at the Seeker, as he placed the datapad on the counter in front of him and opened its glass flap to slide the tray of sweets onto one of the shelves, snuggling themselves between two others.

Thundercracker, an elite Seeker, a precise killer with a just as equally frightening reputation. Turned candy maker.

Well, what do you fragging know?

"Wow, this is pretty good. Hey Sunny, try one."

Sunstreaker looked down and suddenly a candy had been forced into his mouth. A muffle sound of alarm etching out, Sunstreaker stumbled back. As soon as he recovered the yellow mech glared at his twin, who was smiling innocently. But Sunstreaker didn't spit the candy out. No, he chewed it. The sweet had a hard shell but the moment he bit into it, he immediately felt the gooey inside of the center, the sweetness of the candy tingling his jaw.

And, yeah, it was pretty good. And Primus, _Thundercracker _was the one that made it. A 'Con. Well, one that used to be a 'Con. Still, that was a real cog-turner.

"Pretty good," he echoed.

Thundercracker nodded, most likely in thanks, before turning his attention back to the datapad. Sunstreaker looked back at his twin. Ugh, this is so awkward. He poked at the bond.

_Sideswipe, can we go now? I think—_

"So did you make all of these?" Sideswipe asked Thundercracker. Sunstreaker stared in shock at Sideswipe, who wasn't even looking back at him. Oookay..?

Thundercracker looked back at Sideswipe, a glint of his own surprise at the sudden question, but he nodded anyway, "Yes."

"All of them?"

"Mhm."

"Wow." Sideswipe beamed. "That's awesome. How?"

Thundercracker's optic ridges pinched. "What do you mean?"

"Y'know," Sideswipe waved an impatient hand, "How did you make 'em? 'Cause, weren't stuff like this lost in the War… or something?"

Thundercracker stared at him for a fraction of a moment before shrugging. "That was what everyone thought, but I found most of these recipes on a computer's database in a building I was scouting out."

Sunstreaker's optic ridge hiked up, "On a computer, huh? That's a… strange place to put them."

"Agreed," Thundercracker nodded. "I was very surprised to have found them there. I was simply there to retrieve any information I could, and that was all that was there."

Sideswipe hummed rather thoughtfully at this, scratching his chin. "Wow, this is really cool of you, Thundercracker. Think you can show us?"

Thundercracker and Sunstreaker looked at Sideswipe with equal confusion, "What?"

Swideswipe's smile stretched, "Teach us how to make the candy. Don't worry, I doubt me an' Sunny will become any competition for you."

"Sideswipe, you can't just ask him something like that," Sunstreaker said.

Sideswipe made a face at him, his features scrunched up in something of confusion or disapproval, the feelings mixed in the branched bond. Honestly, his twin was so strange, even to him. He was actually surprised Sideswipe had warmed up to Thundercracker so easily. The flyer had done some nasty things to close friends, and themselves in particular as well.

Maybe it was because he made candy now. Oh Sideswipe.

"No, it's alright," Thundercracker waved a nonchalant hand. He looked at Sideswipe with the softest of smiles, calm and capable of the moment, as if this request had been made many times before. "But I'm afraid I cannot, my brothers would be rather mad if I did. Skywarp in particular."

"Oh?"

The seeker shrugged, "Skypwarp thinks it's for the best… said something about a 'new legacy' we can build from this—or some scrap." He sighed, shaking his helm. "It's stupid. It's just candy for Primus' sake."

Sideswipe couldn't help but laugh at that. No sooner, the red twin had decided to buy a baggie of those little, green candies, which Thundercracker had placidly obliged to. With sweets paid, the twins made their way out the door, waving a good bye to the owner. "He's not so bad. Now," Sideswipe commented when they were walking down the streets once more.

Sunstreaker crossed his arms and huffed, but not of annoyance, but to simply vent out and go over what just occurred. "Yeah, I—guess he is." he looked down as Sideswipe opened the bag and plucked a candy from inside. "At least he can cook."

* * *

By the time the twins were well situated back at home, the bag was completely empty. Sideswipe had stated then that next time they go they were getting a far bigger container—a box, he said, a big box to fit, like, fifty bags.

Sunstreaker sat in his usual seat in the living quarters, reading through his personal datapad for anything interesting to pass the time. His finger flicked the screen, the test scrolling up quickly, until it stopped, interrupted by a sudden message he received. Sunstreaker stared at this, startled a quick moment before tapping on the message box. It was a postal with a document attached to it. From Thundercracker.

This caught the ex-frontliner's bemused attention and he read.

_Got this address from one of your friends that stopped in. I think I can send at least this your way without Skywarp blowing a fuse._

His finger flicked the document. It was a recipe for the candy Sideswipe had bought. Sunstreaker couldn't help the smirk that grew on his face. Okay, maybe Thundercracker was pretty cool now. Of course, he'd never verbally admit that Sideswipe was right this time.

"Hey Sides, got something for ya."


End file.
